The Arkansaw traveler., 1887-09-17

CCKf NATIONAL RANK AND LOUISVILLE ASSOCIATION.
 about three thousand acres of camel coal land, on W hich there Is vein of camel coal of more than sixty inches thick, whose quality Is unsurpassed In the whole world. The coal in It's nat ural state is as beautiful as ebony and contains every element of pure camel coal there Is neither grit nor metal in it and 1t is pronounced by all per sons, including numbers of the best business men Of Louisville, as m- doubtcdly the best cannel- -coal in the world. It also owns about four thou sand acres of land OH which the largest chalybeate springs in the state exist with a perennial flow the vol ume of water Is more than three inches in diameter, and the strata of iron rnaniiests itself for Il space of about fifty feet swide for several miles through this tract of land, which lies within mile and n half of the rail road now being constructed by the Louisville and Nashville railroad up the Cumberland valley to Rig Stone Gap; one of the depots k now being located within two miles and halt of the heart of said tract of land be- sides the canncl-coal and iron mem tioncd the company owns about twenty thousand acres of cooking coal W hich is of the finest quality and In incxhaustiblc quantities, ranging from furty-cight to seventy seven inches thick; this cooking coal has been tested and compared with the Corners vile coke. and It's coke k several per cent. superior to that coke. It lies within thirty miles of the finest iron iicid in America outside of Pennsyl- vania, and it k believed that that iron is superior in quality and equal in quantity to the Pennsylvania iron fields.
 These lands and cooking coals arc SO situated that the railroad will run di- rcctly through them and the iron can bc carried to the coke and the cars loaded back with the coke to the iron fields, all within from thirty 10 one hundred miles. This field of coal hitherto undcvclopcd has been tested by the gcologist of the state of Ken lucky, the Hon. John R. IProctcr, and he has officially prononneed II th" fl nest field of coal in this country. Its geographical position and proximity to the iron fields which lie on the north and east of ii, make 1t the most desirable manufacturing point for iron in the United States.
 The timber on these lands Is of pop lar, walnut, cherrJ, oak, hickory, su- gar-trcc, buckeye, maple, beech, and other species of great value. Many of these poplars measure from seventy to ninety inches in diameter, and are AS much as eighty and ninety feet in height. That region has becn furnish ing the finest walnut timber in the state, and on account of the waste of the timber, that species is becoming somewhat scarce.
 The Cumberland valley branch of i. destined to be the most important feeder of that great system. Its vice president, MT. Nj. II. Smith, has shown himself to Ike the most far-s see- ing and wisest railroad manager that l know of in the United States, for to him, it is understood, belongs the honor of projecting this Cumberland Valley Branch road. If he is permit ted to guide its destinies and plan its future, there is no doubt but that the Louisville and Nashville railroad will he great gairer thereby, and the peo- pie of the Cumberland valley made wealthy.
 There is no reason to doubt that three of the projected railroads in this region, and may be four, will make connection across the Cumberland mountains into virginia and Tennes- see between Cumberland and Pound Gaps in the next three years. When that shall have been done eastern Ken lucky will undoubtedly start upon a course of development not hitherto dreamed of by the most enthusiastic and well-posted believers in its wealth and resources. These are not words for mere advertisement. It is my